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College baseball tourney update

College Baseball post season:

The regionals are underway in college baseball. By tomorrow, the super-regional match-ups will emerge. Just a thought: It would be fun if we could get a group of RedsZone reporters to give inform us about the teams competing next week. Each reporter will prepare a general profile of the team they choose including Coaches, Conference, key players, key players who were drafted (especially if they were drafted by the Reds.) And any other items of interest that may emerge from local online news sources. Fun facts, etc. The reporter would follow their team through the CWS should they advance.

Do we have enough people interested in doing this? If you’re interested in taking a regional champion, please reply below.

Gallen5862 said he'd like to cover UNC, who has already advanced to the superregional.

Here's how it stands. I'll update the regional scores (as long as I'm awake).

Athens regional: Georgia and Florida State. Both have one loss.

Atlanta regional: Georgia Tech wins.
Austin regional: Stanford wins.

Charlottesville regional: South Carolina and Evansville. Both teams have one loss.

Re: College baseball tourney update

Kentucky had everything land their way with both home field location and the strength of their pairings...then promptly blew it during their first round game (scoring but one run versus Ball State). Luckily for UK, Notre Dame had to go 16 innings in their initial loss to College of Charleston. By the time the two teams played (UK vs. ND) on Saturday, Notre Dame's bullpen was melba toast and UK scored some "confidence building" runs while eliminating the Irish from the tournament..

Last edited by Blimpie; 06-04-2006 at 11:42 PM.

"Booing on opening day is like telling grandma her house smells like old lady."--WOY

Re: College baseball tourney update

I just hate it that they went out on their home turf...teams like UK play all season just to get a chance to host a regional, only to lay a giant egg when it is all on the line.

Actually, they have been playing poorly for nearly a month now. Ever since they clinched the SEC East, they started backpedaling and losing to teams they should have been dominating. The terrible showing they had in the SEC tournament had me officially worried that they were starting to grip a little too much.

"Worst to First" in any conference is quite an accomplishment. To do that in the SEC is simply bananas. I am optomistic for the future because they have the real deal in skipper John Cohen (granted I have been a fan of his since he was an assistant at Florida).

"Booing on opening day is like telling grandma her house smells like old lady."--WOY

North Carolina starts the postseason at home for the first time since 1983, and coach Mike Fox holds three aces in juniors Andrew Miller (11-2, 2.07, 102 strikeouts), Robert Woodard and Daniel Bard that helped produce a 3.22 ERA (seventh nationally). The pitching depth runs deeper with relievers Jonathan Hovis (ACC-best 1.72 ERA) and closer Andrew Carignan (13 saves), while freshman Luke Putkonen (6-0, 3.13) stands ready for emergency duty or perhaps even a start in the opener. The Tar Heels aren't all arms, as sophomore shortstop Josh Horton led the ACC with a .408 average, while five other hitters combined for 48 homers. Errors in the field and on the basepaths have undone UNC at times and could prove crucial in a tournament where one run can decide a game.

Winthrop's lineup is as deep and experienced as any in the tournament, featuring six seniors and a junior. The Eagles also boast series wins at Miami and Alabama (early) and a midweek victory at regional host North Carolina (in May). Senior left fielder Jacob Dempsey leads an attack that ranked among the top 10 nationally with a .329 average and .502 slugging percentage with .407-17-78 numbers. The pitching staff features two righthanders who average 10 strikeouts per nine innings in freshman ace Alex Wilson, who leads the nation with 13 wins, and junior righthander Heath Rollins, who generates K's with his curveball but still can prove hittable. Winthrop needs to work through the regional in as few games as possible to pull the upset. Every additional game favors North Carolina's deeper pitching staff.

Forty wins and a regular-season conference title weren't enough to get UNC Wilmington into regionals a year ago, so the Seahawks added another win and a tournament title to the mix this season to leave no doubt about their inclusion. Like Winthrop, UNCW sprinkles depth and experience throughout its lineup. It scored nearly nine runs per game to lead the CAA and ranked among the national leaders in that category along with slugging (.506) and steals (127) in a diverse attack led by senior outfielder John Raynor (.378-11-64 with 41 steals).

How fun is the fact that Maine's seven College World Series trips match the totals of Mississippi State and Wichita State? The Black Bears eliminated third-seeded Southern Mississippi from the Oxford regional a year ago, so don't expect them to hibernate here. Maine third baseman Kevin McAvoy hit .362-7-56 to win America East freshman of the year honors, while Curt Smith (.380-5-49) and Joel Barrett (.372-5-50) and Ryan Quintal (.325-9-60) also helped the team score 432 runs--112 more than any other team in the league.

Houston Regional has up to two games between Rice and Baylor, who used to be a big southern football rivalry. The remaining regionals are down to a single deciding game. We'll know the field by tonight.

Note: I just want to say why I'm doing this. For years, college basketball has lured sports fans in with March Madness. A lot of people only pay attention to the sport during tournament time. College baseball, on the other hand, doesn't even get much attention from all the baseball fans out there. Accessibility is one reason. Aluminum bats another. Double elimination is yet another. It's still really fun to watch these guys. I've been trying to think of a way to make it easy for people to get excited about the college baseball postseason, even if they don't have a horse in this game.

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